Cold spell inbound.

[Newbeeneil]

Precisely ... what should happen. Bees are not stupid ... they are reactive to circumstance and if beekeepers artificially vary the environment then bees will react accordingly. The longer I keep bees and the more that I see of what some beekeepers do 'as normal' the more I come to believe that some of the adverse things that 'bees do' are more attributable to what beekeepers do to promote it happening ... and who then invariably blame the bees.

Yes ... there are always going to be the odd rogue colony .. that's nature for you .. but when I hear of beekeepers who report the majority of their colonies doing something out of line with the natural order of things ... I have to question what is going on ?

In my earlier post I mentioned I had supered "several" hives. From my records it appears I supered 6 out of 50 full size colonies and all of them were full of nectar so as far as those hives are concerned there is a hefty flow in the vicinity.
I didn't particularly want to put supers on as it meant carrying the boxes across fields as they are too boggy to get the van to but most of those hives had plenty of drone brood and some drones on the comb.
Re swarms, a mate of mine who had a Warre hive die out over winter had a swarm take up residence on March 31st!

 

[BugsInABox]

modelled voodoo science

How do you know it’s voodoo?

CO2 has a higher specific heat capacity

Do you have a link in which a climate scientist has suggested specific heat capacity of CO2 is the mechanism by which it causes warming. Before deciding that CO2 is not a contributor shouldn’t you critique the commonly described prevention of re-radiation of infra red energy theory.

 

[Karol]

How do you know it’s voodoo?


Do you have a link in which a climate scientist has suggested specific heat capacity of CO2 is the mechanism by which it causes warming. Before deciding that CO2 is not a contributor shouldn’t you critique the commonly described prevention of re-radiation of infra red energy theory.

By all means if you wish to have this debate then I'm happy to do so but I respectfully suggest opening a new thread in the cupboard under the stairs (pesticides etc) as this thread is about beekeeping response to cold weather. My reference to suppressed solar activity was intended viz long range weather forecasting.

 

[madasafish]

What? like 'grand solar minimum' and such similar mumbo jumbo?

Don't be unkind.

There IS a solar cycle appro 11 years.

But CO2 Trumps them all.

I love climate change deniers.

Many are highly intelligent, but would be drowning in the sea and saying "it's only a ripple in a lake"

 

[jenkinsbrynmair]

I love climate change deniers.

Good for you. I don't
but pushing crackpot theories much loved by publications like the daily mirror and babbling on about a mini ice age hardly helps with pushing the message home as to the actual seriousness of the situation

 

[linoleum bonypart]

What? like 'grand solar minimum' and such similar mumbo jumbo?

Solar minimum isnt mumbo jumbo but science lol

 

[BugsInABox]

as this thread is about beekeeping response to cold weather. My reference to suppressed solar activity was intended viz long range weather forecasting.

Then why take the opportunity to castigate the science as voodoo or talk about your CO2 beliefs at all?

 

[Karol]

Good for you. I don't
but pushing crackpot theories much loved by publications like the daily mirror and babbling on about a mini ice age hardly helps with pushing the message home as to the actual seriousness of the situation

Agreed.

Water vapour has by far the biggest atmospheric effect on temperature.

It takes 1500 tonnes of water to produce 1 tonne of lithium. How many billions of tonnes of water will be needed to pursue the electric zero emissions dream? Extract that much water from the ground and it will heat up and you will get bush fires. Totally unsustainable.

If you want zero emissions the way to go is e-fuels but hey, they ain't supported by people who dump their cars in outer space just because they can.

 

[Karol]

Then why take the opportunity to castigate the science as voodoo or talk about your CO2 beliefs all?

Because carbon dioxide is not a source of energy but the sun is. So a change of 0.1% energy from the sun far outstrips a change in atmospheric (molar not volumetric concentration) of just 0.02%. And that's without even taking into consideration adiabatic expansion of gases.

The 'gas laws' are not a belief. CO2 has a higher specific heat capacity than nitrogen or oxygen which by far make up most of the atmosphere which in lay terms means it requires more energy to raise its temperature than other atmospheric gases. Hence it is a cooling gas. It is irrelevant where that energy comes from - radiation, conduction or convection. Try googling carbon dioxide as a cooling gas.

 

[holmbee]

I think you are going to be disappointed!

I have put supers on my three hives that are bursting, mainly so that they can move nectar up and provide space for the queen to lay. As a precaution I have then returned the 50mm insulation boards on top of the supers to help retain the warmth generated by the colony. Trusting that will provide the best balance for a hopefully short cold spell. More concerned about my plum blossom!

 

[jenkinsbrynmair]

As a precaution I have then returned the 50mm insulation boards on top of the supers to help retain the warmth generated by the colony.

Why remove it at all? all my roofs have 50mm celotex permanently fixed inside

 

[BugsInABox]

What has this:

Nope. Talking about the laws of physics. CO2 has a higher specific heat capacity than the other gas constituents of air (save water vapour).

Or this

Agreed.

Water vapour has by far the biggest atmospheric effect on temperature.

It takes 1500 tonnes of water to produce 1 tonne of lithium. How many billions of tonnes of water will be needed to pursue the electric zero emissions dream? Extract that much water from the ground and it will heat up and you will get bush fires. Totally unsustainable.

If you want zero emissions the way to go is e-fuels but hey, they ain't supported by people who dump their cars in outer space just because they can.

got to do with this?

as this thread is about beekeeping response to cold weather

Which is what you say you want to talk about? Or is it what you want to talk about only when asked to substantiate your statements.
Eg.

How do you know it’s voodoo?

Do you have a link in which a climate scientist has suggested specific heat capacity of CO2 is the mechanism by which it causes warming. Before deciding that CO2 is not a contributor shouldn’t you critique the commonly described prevention of re-radiation of infra red energy theory.

Re your substantive point:
Yes you’re right about CO2 and it’s ability to ‘absorb’ heat energy with smaller temperature rise. But is specific heat capacity at all material in how climate scientists describe CO2 acting to heat the atmosphere?
Your interesting fact about CO2 completely doesn’t address the climate theory you are sceptical about. The conventional climate scientists claim is that CO2 causes retained thermal energy due to reduced atmospheric thermal radiation. Now, I’m out of my depth but are you saying we can be optimistic that CO2 has the ability to more than offset this retained energy and avoid temperature rise. I’ve not heard that, would be wonderful if true!
But conversely all you have said is also compatible with CO2 causing global warming as per the conventional climate theory to which SHC doesn’t speak; happily I can acknowledge that you are right in your description of CO2’s heat capacity. Everyone’s a winner (except the children )

 

[Karol]

Okay, I'll start a new thread under the stairs so as to answer your questions. That way this thread can stay about the cold snap and beekeeping.

Just to be clear I was only responding to other posts dismissing the decline in solar activity with global warming arguments.

 

[pargyle]

Re swarms, a mate of mine who had a Warre hive die out over winter had a swarm take up residence on March 31st!

Probably a swarm from someone who has been feeding them since last July and has just slapped two empty supers on at their third inspection this year with a gallon of 1:1 in the top one ... to help them build up ....

 

[Repwoc]

It takes 1500 tonnes of water to produce 1 tonne of lithium.

How is water converted into lithium?

(molar not volumetric concentration)

Actually, that's near as dammit the same thing. One mole of any gas occupies 22.4 litres at STP.

CO2 has a higher specific heat capacity than nitrogen or oxygen which by far make up most of the atmosphere which in lay terms means it requires more energy to raise its temperature than other atmospheric gases

That just means CO2 has a higher capacity for energy. Once it has been warmed, the CO2 will pass on it's heat energy to the surrounding gasses (O2 and N2 primarily) but since they have a lower specific heat capacity (according to you, I haven't actually checked) the small amount of CO2 will warm up a far larger volume of the other gasses, thus warming the atmosphere.

 

[Karol]

I have opened another thread in the pesticides forum so as not to highjack this thread. For those who wish to continue the CO2 debate I will answer questions there. I think that's only fair to the OP.

 

[Antipodes]

1. Why ... what are the conditions that have promoted the desire to swarm ?

Bees swarm because:
a) There is plenty of food available
b) There is too little space for the existing colony
c) Something else has triggered them to move out
d) The weather conditions they foresee are favourable

2. What should I have been doing or not doing to stop this ?

3. If they are getting ready to swarm this early and there are genuinely no good reasons ... do I really want this genetic trait in my bees ?

The age of the queen is significant too. Colonies with a young first season queen (say autumn mated), are less likely to swarm compared to those with an older queen.

 

[Antipodes]

In my earlier post I mentioned I had supered "several" hives. From my records it appears I supered 6 out of 50 full size colonies and all of them were full of nectar so as far as those hives are concerned there is a hefty flow in the vicinity.
I didn't particularly want to put supers on as it meant carrying the boxes across fields as they are too boggy to get the van to but most of those hives had plenty of drone brood and some drones on the comb.
Re swarms, a mate of mine who had a Warre hive die out over winter had a swarm take up residence on March 31st!

That's early. Is that the earliest you have heard of in the UK?

 

[Newbeeneil]

Probably a swarm from someone who has been feeding them since last July and has just slapped two empty supers on at their third inspection this year with a gallon of 1:1 in the top one ... to help them build up ....

Or a colony escaping a Varroa laden hive after sealing a load of drone cells?

 

[Newbeeneil]

I read on FB that someone picked one up about a week ago down Dorset way!